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Régime de financement:

CP-IP - Large-scale integrating project

Objectif

This project will exploit the potential of chalcogenide based thin film photovoltaic technologies for the development and scale-up of new processes based on nanostructured materials for the production of high efficiency and low cost photovoltaic devices and modules compatible with mass production requirements. Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 (CIGS) chalcogenide based devices have the highest efficiency of all thin film PV technologies, having recently achieved a record value of 20.3% at cell level. These technologies have already entered the stage of mass production, with commercial modules that provide stable efficiencies in the 11-12% range, and a predicted world-side production capacity over 2 GW/a for 2011.

However, current production methods in CIGS industrial technologies typically rely on costly, difficult to control (over large surfaces) vacuum-based deposition processes that are known for low material utilisation of 30-50%. This compromises the potential reduction of material costs inherent to thin film technologies.

At the forefront of this, the SCALENANO project proposes the development of alternative environmental friendly and vacuum free processes based on the electrodepositon of nanostructured precursors with the objective to achieve a much more efficient exploitation of the cost saving and efficiency potential of CIGS based PV. The project also includes the exploration and development of alternative new processes with very high potential throughput and process rate based in the use of printing techniques with novel nanoparticle ink formulations and new cost effective deposition techniques, that will allow proposing an industrial roadmap for the future generation of chalcogenide based cells and modules